London: Britain reacted angrily on Monday to a tweet from US President Donald Trump attacking its public healthcare system in the latest spat to strain US-UK ties, casting further doubt on his possible visit to London.
"The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working," Trump wrote in an early morning tweet.
"Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!"
The tweet came after thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in support of more funding for the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), which is straining under the weight of winter demand.
One possible explanation for Trump's criticism was an appearance by Brexit champion Nigel Farage, a personal friend of the president, on Fox News earlier Monday where he talked about the NHS.
British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt issued a sharp rebuke, tweeting: "I may disagree with claims made on that march but not ONE of them wants to live in a system where 28m people have no cover.
"NHS may have challenges but I'm proud to be from the country that invented universal coverage -- where all get care no matter the size of their bank balance," he wrote.